Haredi way of life poses an 'existential threat'

Jason Koutsoukis

JERUSALEM: The ultra-orthodox Jewish man is in his last year of high school in Israel.

He knows a great deal about the Torah, but when it comes to mathematics, science, economics and geography, he knows about as much as a child finishing primary school. As for modern languages, he knows only Yiddish and colloquial Hebrew.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stands in front a menorah on the third eve of Hanukkah.

All of which makes his job prospects in Israel's flourishing hi-tech economy seem less than dazzling. Lucky for him, he won't have to worry: the state will support him for the rest of his life.

The bleak reality facing Israeli policymakers is that without urgent structural reform, by 2040 this will be the profile of the majority of Israeli high school graduates. ''This is a very scary situation,'' says Dan Ben-David, executive director of the Taub Centre for Social Policy Studies and professor of economics at Tel Aviv University.

''It is an existential threat facing the state of Israel. Our backs are to the wall and unless we change, then it becomes questionable as to whether Israel can survive in this region.''

The author of a recent study on the demographic challenges facing Israel, Ben-David's research has sent a shudder through the political establishment. As things stand, about 10 per cent of Israel's 7.6 million people are classified as ultra-orthodox, or Haredim, meaning they adhere to a strictly traditional form of Jewish law and reject modern secular life.

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Men dress in heavy 18th-century-style black robes meant for freezing European winters. Women wear ankle-length dresses and cover their hair.

When Israel was established in 1948, the country's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, made a pact with the country's then tiny Haredi population. In return for supporting a secular state, Ben-Gurion agreed that, among other things, Haredi men who wanted to devote their lives to religious study would be exempt from military service.

At the time, this applied to only 400 adults. Today about 105,000 Haredi men are enrolled in religious colleges until the age of 42, after which they can no longer be called up for service.

Haredi schools have been required to teach only core curriculum subjects such as maths, science and economics up to primary school level.

''When they finally finish their studies … most men are simply not equipped with the tools to work in a modern first-world economy,'' Ben-David says. ''This is unparalleled in Western society.''

Because about 65 per cent of Haredi men choose not to enter the workforce, Ben-David says it puts a huge burden on the economy. ''What we actually need is for them to become the next generation of doctors, physicists, computer scientists, engineers - the sort of people that can help Israel to keep growing.''

Ben-David's message is certainly getting through to the top.

Speaking at an economic policy planning forum several weeks ago, the Finance Minister, Yuval Steinitz, was dire about the challenges facing Israel.

''Without a change now, within 10 years the situation will be a catastrophe,'' he said.

Equally pessimistic was the governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer. ''This is not sustainable,'' Fischer said last month. ''We can't have an ever-increasing proportion of the population continuing to not go to work.''

Not only does Israel's GDP suffer, but generous welfare payments to Haredi families put an added drain on the economy.

With Haredi birth rates currently three times the Israeli average, Fischer says the problems will increase exponentially.

A senior columnist with the liberal daily Haaretz, Shahar Ilan, says Haredi politicians have held the balance of power in Israel's parliament since the 1970s. ''So we have governments who are prepared to forfeit the future to preserve the present,'' he says.